Media and the 49ers

I've seen plenty of people picking the 49ers to represent the NFC in the SB. That a huge compliment consudering the play of GB.

Don't sleep on Seattle though. They have a tough defense and Russel Wilson has looked great in their offense. I still think we'll win the division pretty easily, but they could certainly be in the wildcard race. It'll be interesting to see how Wilson does in the regular season. If he struggles, they'll be a mess at QB. Flynn will be one expensive backup.

Originally posted by strickac:
I've seen plenty of people picking the 49ers to represent the NFC in the SB. That a huge compliment consudering the play of GB.

Don't sleep on Seattle though. They have a tough defense and Russel Wilson has looked great in their offense. I still think we'll win the division pretty easily, but they could certainly be in the wildcard race. It'll be interesting to see how Wilson does in the regular season. If he struggles, they'll be a mess at QB. Flynn will be one expensive backup.

granted, I'm only finishing the 1st quarter, but all Wilson really did was victimize a nobody CB named Jalil Brown # 30 so far. Those passes won't be completed vs decent CBs.

Originally posted by oldman9er:
granted, I'm only finishing the 1st quarter, but all Wilson really did was victimize a nobody CB named Jalil Brown # 30 so far. Those passes won't be completed vs decent CBs.

Wilson is the real deal dude. This kid is smart, fast, and has the pedigree to be great. He's a bit diminutive in stature, but he has all the tools to be a thorn in our side for a long time.

Originally posted by oldman9er:
granted, I'm only finishing the 1st quarter, but all Wilson really did was victimize a nobody CB named Jalil Brown # 30 so far. Those passes won't be completed vs decent CBs.

Wilson is the real deal dude. This kid is smart, fast, and has the pedigree to be great. He's a bit diminutive in stature, but he has all the tools to be a thorn in our side for a long time.

Eh being a sports writer or a commentator ala Skip Bayless is all about getting attention and making people pay attention. Being a contrarian or saying something "shocking". Whats more shocking and interesting, predicting a 13-3 team will have a similarly successful season? Or saying that they will be awful? Exactly. Now if everyone was saying they would be awful, then you would see sports writers saying hold on a second here is why the Niners will be awesome. It is what it is. If you look deep enough you can find a thousand "professional" opinions predicting every level of out come for the Niners. Hell Im sure you could find someone predicting the Browns as Super Bowl champs. Just sayin.

Speaking of which, I got through an entire article hating on the 49ers before I realized it was written by Grant Cohn. I gotta start remembering to read the by-lines on articles linked on the front page.

Ok, I won't get oo far into the reasoning that many "pundits" have thrown out..."no injuries in 2011", "can't match the turnover differential", "tougher schedule", etc. The simple fact is, these guys are LOOKING for reasons to support our regress. That's fine, I don't understand it, but it is fine with me. It is fairly annoying that no body is looking at the potential regressing of teams like the Packers, Patriots, Saints or Lions. And there is one reason for that....Quarterback.

There are a lot of people who see us regressing simply for the fact that AS can't get it done again. Some use the arguments listed above, but most really think our QB just is below par and cannot take a step forward. It seems unfair to me that, in general, when a player takes a step forward, then there is optimism for further development the following year. However, with our boy AS, there is no such optimism. Just as they feel our turnover ratio will return to the "norm", they assume AS will return to the "norm". This is called biased journalism (in nice terms).

Right now, the majority of the media are looking at ARI, MIN, CLE and MIA to be in the cellar this year (barring some of the teams that just drafted future franchise QBs). My problem is, if any of these teams listed managed to acquire a Rodgers, Brees or Brady, they would look at them as legitimate playoff contenders. Yes, the QB is the most important position on the field, but let's stay in reality. A bad team is a bad team. A bad team with a good QB is better, but probably still a bad team.

All I am saying is that if, only imagine, AS doesn't regress to 2005 form...we only suffer a few injuries (as most teams do), and let our turnover ratio decrease (say to +14), are we really any weaker than last year after our off-season gains? Maybe I am way off base and Russell Wilson is the now best QB in the division and we will have to deal with him as the AFC East has had to deal with Brady for a decade (seriously??).

For some reason, many in the media come to a conclusion that we will be bad or marginal at best, and then defend their argument with whatever reason they can come up with. I just don't see that with teams like the Packers, Saints and Patriots. Why? Because they can't get off the jock straps of these QBs.

Part of it is just going with the historical trend that breakout teams typically regress the following year, but virtually every NFL "expert" out there has been saying for 7 years that Alex is a bust. They've professionally invested in his failure and that's why they used every excuse in the book last year to diminish Alex's success.

I'm happy to see us being underestimated again, and I'm sure Harbaugh is as well.

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